SPOTLIGHT 2453
Development 137, 2453-2454 (2010) doi:10.1242/dev.053751
© 2010. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
An interview with Thomas Lecuit
Thomas Lecuit heads up a multidisciplinary team of 10 scientists at the Developmental Biology Institute of Marseilles (IBDML) in
France. He is deeply interested in how the tissues that form our organs acquire and maintain their proper architecture, and has
special expertise in the physics and modelling of embryonic development. He has been an editor of Development since 2008.
Thomas kindly agreed to an interview to tell us about how he got started in science, and about his passion for work, music and
sleep…
What prompted you to spend time in
the USA and Germany?
When did you first realize you were
interested in science?
For as long as I can remember, I have always
been trying to understand the world around
me. I firmly believe that detailed observation
and abstraction are essential for
understanding. I have a strong memory from
when I was 11 or 12 of reading a book about
plate tectonics and of being fascinated in how
the oceans and continents form. It opened my
eyes to the work of scientists and their ability
to explain phenomena that are far removed
from everyday experience. As a kid, I spent a
lot of my spare time looking for butterflies
and plants, trying to recognize closely related
species. I didn’t know that I wanted to be a
scientist then, but I realized much later that I
was already behaving like one.
Who inspired you to follow a
scientific career?
My greatest early mentor was my
grandfather. He was a true naturalist, and
when I was about 10, he began to educate
my sense of observation, teaching me
Linnaean classification, focusing on my
interest in butterflies. I was lucky that he
took my childhood hobby very seriously
and helped me rationalize it. I remember
him giving me scientific articles about
Interview by Kathryn Senior*
Freelance Science and Medical Writer
*Author for correspondence
([email protected])
A combination of scientific interest, instinct
and chance...When I had the opportunity to
go to Rockefeller University for a summer
rotation in Claude Desplan’s lab in 1992, I
discovered the excitement of experimental
research on embryos for the first time. I read
A Genetic Switch by Mark Ptaschne
(Ptaschne, 2004) and The Making of a Fly:
The Genetics of Animal Design by Peter
Lawrence (Lawrence, 1992), both with
great passion, and attended many wonderful
seminars. I began to see how abstract
models such as Lewis Wolpert’s view of
morphogenesis could be explored using
experimental observations and it was at that
stage that I decided to embark on what most
excited me: developmental biology.
A significant part of
research should continue to
involve unbiased detailed
observation that tries not
to overlook the unexpected
I moved to Heidelberg for my PhD to
work with Steve Cohen because I wanted to
focus on morphogenesis and patterning.
Steve’s lab was an ideal place to study this.
EMBL has since been my reference point for
sheer enthusiasm for science. After
completing my PhD, I wanted to get into the
cell biology of development and decided that
meant looking at early embryogenesis. I went
back to the USA to work with Eric
Wieschaus with whom I learned so much.
Interaction with physicist Stan Leibler and
his colleagues in Princeton also had an
important impact on my growth as a scientist,
forcing me to question my scientific
assumptions much more critically.
If you could solve one developmental
biology question tomorrow, what
would it be?
It would be to understand how growth and
tissue shape changes are integrated and
orchestrated during morphogenesis. This is
a very complex but fascinating problem that
occurs at the crossroads of different areas of
biology.
What made you return to France?
I had been abroad for 8 years and my wife
and I then had two small children, both born
in Princeton; we just decided we would
rather bring up the family in France.
Professionally, it was also a good move; I
have found Marseille to be a place where
there is good scientific diversity and plenty
of smart people to learn from. It also offers
a relaxed environment for research, which I
need to pursue original avenues and my own
interests.
What kind of team do you lead and
what is your current research focus?
I am a research director at the
Developmental Biology Institute of
Marseilles (IBDML), an institute overseen
by the CNRS and the University of the
Mediterranea. This is a world-class centre in
developmental biology, which spans
embryology,
organogenesis
and
neurobiology, and has a multidisciplinary
team of geneticists, cell biologists and
physicists. My group consists of 10 people
with different backgrounds in science,
biology and physics. I plan to slightly
expand the group to get more of the
complementary expertise that we need to
properly study morphogenesis. We already
collaborate with the physicist P. F. Lenne
and his group and find that the diversity of
backgrounds enhances discussions and
improves the quality of our research.
DEVELOPMENT
natural butterfly hybrids from the southern
Alps, which he had characterized. He also
told me about his accidental discovery of a
new butterfly phenotype that bred true and
that he had shown this to be due to a
dominant mutation. This was extraordinary
to me and had a major influence – I think my
later career in science owes much to these
early experiences.
2454 SPOTLIGHT
We try to understand the mechanisms that
ensure robustness and cohesion of tissues
while allowing the plasticity associated
with remodelling and growth. This balance
is normally tightly controlled in vivo but
when this balance is lost, solid cancers can
develop and progress. As we learn more
about the control of tissue homeostasis and
its regulation by signalling and mechanics,
we hope to provide new information that
could be useful to oncology.
I would love to be a
musician because music
transcends everything
Has your scientific work produced
any big surprises?
Realising that macroscopic changes in
tissue shape, such as elongation, are the
result of very simple and highly organised
spatial-temporal patterns of cell contact
powered by interfacial tension is something
I had not anticipated or imagined. In
retrospect, it is very simple and I find it
elegant – but it was a surprise. This
enhanced my certainty that, although
hypothesis-driven science is essential, a
significant part of our research should
continue to involve unbiased detailed
observation that tries not to overlook the
unexpected. This paradox is at the heart of
science for me.
What is your greatest scientific
ambition for the next 20 years?
I would like to understand how different
cell and tissue behaviours derive from core
self-organizing modules operating at
different scales, such as at the subcellular
and tissue levels, for example. It is true that
specific gene pathways may be responsible
for regulating the system but they cannot
explain per se the organization and
dynamics of developmental processes.
How did you become involved with
Development?
I was contacted by the Editor in Chief and
Executive Editor of the journal, who
wanted to discuss with me ways to publish
more papers that encompass new areas of
developmental biology. There was a
particular need for publications in cell
biology, quantitative biology and
biophysics. I became involved in the
discussions and was delighted when the
suggestion was made that I join the team as
an editor myself.
What does Development bring to this
field of science?
Development is read by many people and
covers a wide range of concepts and
approaches. It is a highly conscientious
publication with high integrity, and
supports excellent basic research in many
areas. It can be difficult for major journals
to achieve this owing to the pressure from
private interests and the need to search
frenetically for the latest ‘scoop’.
What would be your first choice of an
alternative career and why?
I would love to be a musician, even a
mediocre one, because music transcends
everything.
If you had an extra hour in each day,
how would you spend it?
We now have four children, two still small,
so the most likely thing I would do is sleep.
Beyond that, practising the piano and
reading would be major priorities for my
spare time.
References
Lawrence, P. A. (1992). The Making of a Fly: The
Genetics of Animal Design. Chichester, UK: WileyBlackwell.
Ptaschne, M. (2004). A Genetic Switch. Cold Spring
Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
DEVELOPMENT
What are the potential medical
applications of your work?
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